


A Slight Abnormality of the Inner Ear

by ufovalet



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ufovalet/pseuds/ufovalet
Summary: A missing scene for S2E3 Ipswich. This covers Douglas' heroic rescue of Martin from the smoke-filled fuselage.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in an attempt to break through some major writer's block I'm having on another story. If you have a prompt you'd like filled please throw it at me!

“One minute left! Come on!” The voice of the CAA examiner, Mr. Sargent, resonated throughout the smoke-filled mock-up fuselage.   
“For pity’s sake, four minutes gone!” Carolyn exclaimed from behind Douglas, her voice muffled by the smoke hood, “Arthur! Are you sure you haven’t found anything?”  
“No!” Arthur replied.  
Douglas held tightly onto Arthur’s belt as the four of them shuffled forward. He did his best to look for the dummy that MJN had been tasked with rescuing from the fuselage but between the smoke and the smoke hood he was wearing, visibility was near zero.  
“Hasn’t anyone?” Carolyn asked.  
“No!” Douglas said, glancing to either side in hopes of spotting the dummy.  
“No…” Martin said hesitantly from behind Carolyn, “But I am… um, I’m a bit…”  
Douglas didn’t catch whatever Martin was trying to say as Mr. Sargent bellowed again, “Forty-five seconds!”  
“We’ll have to abandon it,” Carolyn said.  
Her declaration was punctuated by a loud thump, but Douglas couldn’t tell where it had come from.   
“What was that?” he demanded as Arthur came to an abrupt halt in front of him.  
“It was Skipper!” Arthur said worriedly, “He’s fallen down!”  
“Martin! Are you alright?” Carolyn asked. There was no response.  
“Arthur,” Douglas said slowly, “how do you know it was Martin?”  
“I was holding onto his belt,” Arthur replied.  
“But you were in the lead!” Carolyn exclaimed.  
“But Mr. Sargent said, ‘Everyone hold someone’s belt.’” Arthur explained.  
“Well not you!” Carolyn said shrilly.   
“Never mind that now. Is Martin alright?” Douglas pushed past Arthur and started feeling for Martin in the smoke.  
“I think so, my screen’s a bit misted up,” Arthur said, “I’ll just uhh…”  
Arthur began to cough violently, and then there was a thump as he passed out. Douglas didn’t take the time to remark on the stupidity of Arthur’s actions, instead focusing on rescuing the captain. He sank to his knees and began crawling through the smoke.  
“You get Arthur out, I’ll find Martin,” he called to Carolyn.  
“Right,” she replied shortly.  
Douglas stumbled on Martin’s prone form after only a few moments of searching.  
“Martin!” He gasped. He grasped Martin by his shoulders and flipped him onto his back. He felt at the captain’s neck for a pulse, and after a couple of heartstopping moments he found it. Satisfied that Martin was at least alive, Douglas put one arm under the unconscious man’s knees and one around his shoulders and lifted him into his arms. Douglas frowned slightly at how easily he was able to bear Martin’s weight. The boy really needed to eat more. Douglas made a mental note to go easy on the cheese tray bets for a while. He was able to find the entrance to the fuselage without too much trouble. He emerged from the smoke and gently laid Martin down a safe distance from the smoke. He crouched next to him and carefully removed Martin’s smoke hood, then his own. Douglas quickly took stock of Martin. His chest rose and fell steadily with each breath, and he appeared to be unharmed other than a small gash on his temple that was steadily oozing blood. Douglas put a hand on Martin’s forehead.  
“Martin,” he said softly. Martin made no indication that he’d heard.   
“Martin!” He tried a little louder. Martin’s eyelids fluttered open. He stared blankly up at Douglas for a moment before panic filled his eyes and he struggled to sit up.  
“Douglas- what?” he cried.  
“Martin! Hey, calm down,” Douglas said quickly, placing a hand on Martin’s chest and easing him back to the ground. “Everything’s fine.”  
“What happened?” Martin closed his eyes and some of the tension left his body.  
“Oh, the usual. Arthur screwed everything up and I’ll have to fix it.” Douglas smirked.  
“Ah,” Martin smiled slightly.  
Douglas glanced up to see Carolyn and Arthur nearby, Arthur breathing through an oxygen mask held by Mr. Sargent but looking none the worse for wear.  
Douglas turned back to Martin, “So what exactly happened in there?”  
Martin sighed, “It’s my inner ear, I have a-”  
“A slight abnormality,” Douglas finished. “So you mentioned. You blacked out?”  
Martin nodded.  
“How do you feel?”  
“O-ok,” Martin sounded unsure, but pulled himself into a sitting position with a little help from Douglas.   
“Martin,” Carolyn strode over to them, “are you okay?”  
“Um, yeah, I think so.” Martin frowned and rubbed his head.  
“It doesn’t seem serious but we should get him to a doctor as soon as possible,” Douglas supplied.  
“Of course. For now, we have this.” Carolyn handed Douglas a small first-aid kit.  
“Great, thanks. How’s Arthur?” Douglas asked, taking a few items out of the kit.  
“He’ll be fine. Honestly it’s a miracle he’s lived as long as he has,” Carolyn sighed in exasperation. “Speaking of—I’d better get back and make sure he doesn’t injure himself with the oxygen mask.” She clapped Martin on the shoulder and left.  
“Alright Martin, this will only sting a little,” Douglas said, holding up a bottle of antiseptic. He held Martin’s face still with one hand as he dabbed at the cut on Martin’s head with a disposable wipe. Martin grimaced slightly with each dab.  
“Sorry,” Douglas winced sympathetically. Martin remained silent until Douglas had finished.   
“Oh wait, almost forgot the most important part.” Douglas procured a band-aid from the first-aid kit, and smoothed the curls away from Martin’s forehead as he gently applied it to the cut. “All better now, Captain.”  
Martin smiled and touched the band-aid lightly. “Thanks Douglas.”  
“No trouble, Martin,” Douglas smiled. He glanced over to see that Dr. Duncan had entered the room and was in discussion with Mr. Sargent. Their expressions didn’t make Douglas hopeful about MJN’s chances of passing the SEP.   
“Alright Martin, time to face the music,” he said, helping Martin to his feet and holding his arm to keep him steady as the two of them headed towards the CAA examiners.


End file.
